


Ever After

by Batagur



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode Related, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-11
Updated: 2009-01-11
Packaged: 2017-10-11 03:35:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batagur/pseuds/Batagur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all about life. It's what happens after the adventures end, because all adventures have ends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ever After

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for SGA 5x11: The Lost Tribe. Beta'd by the amazing Amazonx

When Daniel woke up, the first thing he saw was an inquisitive pair of brown eyes staring unblinkingly into his. He knew those eyes, even from that distance and obscured by the dense blur of nearsightedness. He knew that look, that wide-eyed, mildly amused, overtly annoying glare.

"Jack," Daniel said in greeting, pursing his lips in grim determination to combat the urge to snap at him. He hated when Jack bated him, and Jack loved to bate him.

"Daniel," Jack replied in greeting, sitting back in his chair and relieving Daniel's personal space of Jack's head's overwhelming presence.

Daniel sat up a bit more in the infirmary bed. He had only gated back from Atlantis the night before, and he was still incredibly sore.

"So…"

Daniel frowned at Jack as he sat back; looking at him with that 'matter-of-fact' expression that irritated Daniel so well.

Daniel shrugged at him. "So?"

Jack frowned in return. "You look terrible."

"Why, thank you, Jack," Daniel said without skipping a beat. "I suppose having several thousand volts worth of plasma energy course through your body can do that to a person."

"Just be glad you outlasted the amperage," Jack replied. "One amp can kill… I learned that from Carter." Jack's fingers began to fiddle restlessly with the infirmary bed's controls.

"So, what brings you here, other than a chance to tell me what you learned about electrocution?"

"Just here to check on you," Jack replied.

Daniel couldn't help the small smile that briefly took his face by surprise; instead, he looked down quickly, examining his folds of the blanket beneath his hands. His bed moved.

"Jack, stop it," he order in a soft yet firm voice.

Jack took his hands from the bed controls.

"Actually, I just wanted you to know, I got permission to spring you from this joint," Jack said brightly.

"You did?" Daniel gave him a stern, skeptical stare.

"Yeah, the doc wants a last poke at you, but she said I could take you for some real calm r-and-r."

"What did you have in mind?"

Jack shrugged. "I guess something easy. You know… like fishing."

Daniel sighed with exaggerated exasperation, but truth be told, he secretly loved fishing with Jack. It was incredibly nice to sit in the warm sun, book in hand and rod propped off to the side. Jack's presence made it nicer. Unusually quiet and happily focused on the beautiful scenery of the wind on the water, Jack was a comfortable companion, asking for nothing more than Daniel's presence by his side. It was a warm feeling of trust and love that Daniel felt when he would catch a glance at Jack's profile in the morning sun, his eyes squinting against the light as he cast out and played his line for a moment before letting the bait settle to do its job.

It was a very pleasant way to spend time with Jack.

~*~

Dutifully prepared, after the last so-called 'poke-n-prod' by the doc, as Jack had put it, Daniel settled back in the passenger side seat of Jack's rental Jeep Cherokee and closed his eyes for a moment. They were heading out to some nice, resort lake where Jack had rented a cabin for a whole week. The base doctors hadn't wanted him to take Daniel too far.

"Are we there yet?" Daniel mumbled as Jack turned the engine over and released the parking brake.

"Just where are you getting this attitude from?" Jack asked with only a small touch of annoyance and a greater part of amusement in his voice.

Daniel could imagine his expression: grim frown with twinkling eyes that belayed the truth of it all to Daniel. Jack knew that Daniel was only making a weak attempt at being a nuisance and modeling his behavior after the finest instructor in obnoxiousness, General Jack O'Neill.

Daniel settled further in his seat with a sigh as he felt the vehicle begin to move.

"Gotta stop letting you hang around that Mitchell kid," Jack groused softly beside him.

Daniel smiled as he let a memory of another car ride wash over him like the warmth of sunshine. He remembered driving a happy group of air force officers, one ex-thief and one Jaffa back from a lunch date. The giggling colonel, the ex-thief (who had managed to beat the general in calling shotgun as they loaded into the base-issue SUV) and the smiling Jaffa watched as the General and the Lt. Colonel tried, from the back seat, to hit the dashboard and windshield with jumbo sticky hands they got from the quarter gumball machines in the restaurant's foyer.

~*~

The first night at the cabin was mostly a blur to Daniel. He had been too wiped out to do anything other than try to help Jack get their things settled in and then fall into bed. He awoke the next day stripped to his socks and underwear. He knew Jack had undressed him, because he had no recollection of doing it himself. Plus, regardless of how tired he has ever been, he rarely left the socks on. It could have been a carry over from his early childhood, but he had never grown accustom to or fond of socks. He wore them because he knew that he had to in certain social settings.

He put on sweat pants and a tee shirt and wondered out to the cabin great room. He smelled coffee. Across in the modest kitchen, a coffee maker sat with a little more than a half of a pot left. Daniel made a bee-line for it. There was a clean mug on the counter beside the coffee maker. Beside the mug was two pill bottles. This was a reminder from Jack for Daniel to take his meds like a good little boy.

He had to take one of the medications right away but the other was meant to be taken later, with food. Daniel opened the one that should be taken first thing and poured out one of the small, blue pills. These were some sort of blood pressure medication that was to be taken twice a day, morning and night. The jolt of the electrocution had caused a severe arrhythmia. The irregular heartbeat had eventually straightened itself out, but the effect of it had caused elevated blood pressure that the doctor hoped would go away over time.

Daniel took his cup to the sink and filled it with cold tap water. Jack had bought bottled water for the trip. The cabin had well water, but Daniel didn't mind; in fact, he kind of liked well water. He loved the metallic taste that always made it seem cooler in his mouth. He wondered if this too was a hold over from childhood when well water had been the only water he had known for the first six or seven years of his life.

After swallowing his pill, and several mouthfuls of water, Daniel went back to the coffee maker and poured himself a steaming cup. He looked out the cabin's kitchen window, which faced the lake. Jack was sitting on a chair, ball cap on, gazing out across the water with his line already cast. A second chair sat to his right, empty but emphatic with invitation. Daniel smiled.

As he passed the kitchen table, he noticed that a selection of the books he had brought with them lay, carefully arranged, on the table. His smile grew tender as he picked one up and headed out the door.

~*~

They fished until noon. Actually, Jack fished. Daniel had just sat in his chair reading in the refreshing air. Jack had been right about the smell of the forest air. It felt good in his lungs sometimes. He tried to forget that the mold and fungus spores that were part of that lush smell would play havoc with his sinuses later.

It had been very nice. The dappled shade of a canyon maple had help keep the morning sun's heat at bay. They had been quiet all morning. Jack fished. Daniel read. They both sipped coffee. A little after Daniel came out, Jack had handed him a cinnamon roll. The sweet, sticky icing had gone well with the coffee.

Over the course of the morning, Daniel had managed to lose himself in his book, but had also taken breaks to look at the perfect blue sky with bright, fluffy, cheerful clouds. He had watched Jack watching the shimmer of the light on the water, sometimes with a smile and other times with a quiet, thoughtful expression.

He watched Jack recast five times. Each time the line and sinker sailed gracefully out across the water, winking brightly in the sunlight as it arced to a petite splash-down. Jack would settle back in his chair with a content sigh. Sometimes he would take a sip of his freshened coffee (he had put a first pot into a thermos). Sometimes he would just look out across the water again.

Jack would be so still, and that wasn't the norm for Jack. Jack was a dynamic system, always moving, fussing, picking, fidgeting, and playing. He was a ball of pent-up energy looking for an outlet at times. But right at that moment, Jack was still and quiet and peaceful, and it was rather nice.

Conversation was light and brief with long comfortable pauses. A question could finally hear its answer five to ten minutes after the last sounds of a voice had passed. Daniel felt good for the first time in weeks.

Yes, he actually loved fishing with Jack, not that he would ever let anyone, including Jack, know. It was a low pressure, easy activity that was full of the kind of quiet and stillness that Daniel enjoyed. And Jack made few demands on him when they fished. Jack didn't expect lots of conversation or activity. He simply wanted Daniel's company. That was something Daniel could do.

~*~

At noon, Jack reeled in his line and looked up at the bright noontime sun. "They're not biting," he announced.

Daniel closed his book. He knew this was the cue that meant fishing was done for the day, and not a moment too soon. He was hungry, and a bit tired.

Jack gathered his tackle as Daniel stood and stretched.

"Leave the chairs," Jack said as he started back towards the cabin. Daniel followed.

Lunch was a bit more animated. The discussion was much livelier over BLTs and potato salad. Daniel told Jack all the little details about his Atlantis visit that he would not have gotten from the reports. He mentioned how annoying he still found Dr. McKay at times, and Jack commiserated with a small snort and a smile as he chewed another bite of BLT with tomato slices so thick that the juice would often trickle down their chins. Daniel kept a napkin ready. Jack just let it run, wiping his face and licking his fingers in one efficient move.

The conversation carried on during an afternoon walk around the lake.

"…and in the end, he was so insecure that he took back his compliment when it looked like I was going to live."

"Well, some guys aren't comfortable handing out complements, insecurities or not."

"No, Jack, this was plain out and out insecurities, and I for one, cannot fathom why. I know from what Sam has mentioned that he is very grudging about admitting someone could possibly be his intellectual equal."

"Hey, the guy doesn't have much else going for him; if he doesn't like to admit that someone can possibly be his intellectual equal plus some, it is probably because his brain is all he's got to shout about. He's got those crazy Marty Feldman bug eyes and a receding hairline. He's never going to have your drop-dead-gorgeous looks or your perfectly stunning body."

Daniel looked over at Jack who continued to walk on, calmly talking as if he hadn't just lain down the most hard-core complement of the century.

"The man is a classic complete geek without the broken, taped-up glasses," Jack continued with a shrug. "Sometimes he makes Bill Lee look like a social butterfly."

Daniel laughed at that. "A little unfair, but you do have a point about Dr. McKay's ego. He may feel a little intimidated by someone he thinks is more than just his intellectual equal."

They walked until Daniel felt tired. They then returned to the cabin.

"I think I'll take a nap," Daniel said.

Jack nodded at him. Daniel gave him one last smile before he shuffled back to the master bedroom.

~*~

When Daniel awoke, he came out to the great room and saw Jack back in the kitchen stirring something in a skillet that sizzled. It smelled beefy and delightful. On the counter was a head of lettuce with a knife stuck in it. Another whole tomato sat close by, looking plump and shamefully ripe. As Daniel drew closer, he saw the taco shells arranged on the cookie sheet. Homemade tacos were a favorite of Daniel's.

Jack turned to look at him, a corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile. "Good nap?"

Daniel yawned as he stretched. "Yeah… um sorry about that. I've been really tired after the… ah… electrocution… ordeal."

"You're healing, and you're not as young as you use to be. It's gonna take a little more time."

"Voice of experience?" Daniel smiled as he came to stand next to Jack.

"That goes without saying." Jack stirred the spiced, browning meat.

"We have shredded cheese?"

"Boy, you are full of stupid questions tonight. Hellllooo, Daniel!"

"I didn't see it."

"It's still in the fridge." Jack pointed with the spatula. "Make yourself useful and go get it."

Daniel smiled as Jack turned back to the skillet. He was never this bad unless he felt certain that Daniel was going to be just fine. An overly nice, solicitous Jack would have meant that the doctors had told Jack that the least little upset would have Daniel in a coma or something equally as grave. But Jack was giving him shit. Daniel knew that he would be just fine.

Jack was very careful with people that he thought were gravely ill, and Daniel had to wonder if it had been long experience with life and death that had made Jack so cautious. Life is short for humans. Life could be shorter when facing daily galactic threats. Daniel's thoughts turned to Charlie Kawalsky as he retrieved the cheese from the fridge.

Dinner was great, even though the conversation was not as animated as lunch's. They talked leisurely as they made taco after taco. It was Jack's turn to tell Daniel what he had been up to, which he did grudgingly. He was reluctant because he thought he would bore Daniel, but Daniel was intrigued. The inner machinations of the pentagon were actually pretty fascinating to Daniel on a socio-anthropological level. There had never been such a complex messing of the military and bureaucracy since the Holy Roman Empire.

The fact that Jack was navigating it all with some sort of competence was surprising in a way. He knew Jack was more than smart enough for the political machine. He just never really thought Jack would have the patience to play their games. Maybe he didn't still. Maybe he made them play his. Now that was a thought. Jack could do that. He was just that wily. He played stupid to keep people off guard. It was effective most the time. He was even able to keep his closest friends a little off-kilter. Just when Daniel was certain that something had flown completely over Jack's head, Jack would surprise him with his complete grasp of the situation.

"You're not eating any more?" Jack pointed at Daniel's plate where the messy remains of half a taco sat. He had eaten maybe a total of three. Jack had had more, but Daniel had not kept count. Daniel wasn't stuffed yet. He could have called himself 'full.' The truth of the matter was that eating took energy that Daniel just didn't have at that moment. He was exhausted from the effort it took to consume the first three.

"I've had enough," Daniel replied.

"It was good, though?"

"It was great, Jack," Daniel looked up at the nervous sound in Jack's voice. "I'm just starting to get full."

"You can eat more than that. I've seen you…"

Daniel told the truth. "I'm really just too tired to eat."

That evoked silence from Jack as he studied him with a little frown.

"Too much napping?" Daniel shrugged with a small smile, trying to explain away any reasons Jack could find to be worried. It seemed to work.

Jack's mouth quirked up into something that missed being a smile and started looking like a doubtful grimace, but it faded quickly.

"Want to play a game?" Jack said, bring his hands down firmly on the table and rising from his seat. "We've got chess, checkers, cards…."

"I wouldn't mind a game of chess," Daniel said as he watched Jack gathering dishes and leftovers, carrying it all back to the kitchen. He stood from the table too, grabbing the dish of diced tomatoes. He took them to the counter where Jack stood with a box of foil wrap.

"Very low pressure," Jack said lightly.

"What?" Daniel asked, reaching for the wrap.

"You know you can beat me," Jack explained.

"That wasn't my intentions. I just thought a game of chess would be nice."

Daniel looked up from wrapping the tomato dish into Jack's smiling brown eyes. Jack was baiting him again and he was falling for it. Daniel gave a gruff sigh with a very slight eye roll as he turned to put the covered dish into the refrigerator.

~*~

The chess game was just a little too much intense stillness for both of them. Jack began to yawn, and Daniel nodded off over the board at least once. Yet both men seemed unable to call it a night. Jack got up from the table and went to the great room. He put a CD into the player of the cabin's entertainment center. Daniel wasn't certain what musical selection he would hear, but he was pleasantly surprised to hear the Beatles' Abby Road album begin to play.

Daniel sat on the couch, resuming his book. Jack sat beside him with a thick outdoor outfitters catalogue. It wasn't long before Daniel found himself lounging back on the couch, his head propped on Jack's thigh. Jack's hand wandered down to his hair, his fingers playing in the short strands. The feeling was soothing, and Daniel lowered the book to his chest to just enjoy the sensation for a second.

He awoke when Jack began to urge him off the couch.

"Bed time," Jack said as he supported Daniel to get him in an upright position. The music was off. Daniel didn't know what time it was, but he didn't argue. Jack steered him into the kitchen first. Daniel watched as he rinsed a mug and refilled it with some of the bottle water in the refrigerator. Jack sat the mug and a pill bottle on the counter near Daniel. It was time for the night meds.

Daniel took the pills and drained the mug of water. Jack's hands were on his shoulders and he was being guided back. The trip to the bedroom was short. The hall light was the only illumination, and Daniel allowed himself to be handled.

Confident hands, assertive in a nice way helped him out of his clothes, but Daniel made sure this time that the socks came of. Jack careful took off his glasses, last of all. Daniel slipped into bed, feeling very secure. Fingers played lightly in his hair as he settled, snuggled, and sank into a satisfying sleep.

~*~

He awoke when the warm skin beneath his head shifted a little too much; then he was snuggling against a body-warmed pillow and mattress. He wasn't fully awake, but he knew what it meant.

It was a fishing trip, after all.

Daniel was awakened again when the bed sheet lifted, letting the cooler room air touch his skin. Jack poked him lightly.

"Scoot over."

Daniel frowned without opening his eyes but moved over as Jack slid back into place in the bed. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe it wasn't time to get up and fish. Maybe Jack had only made a bathroom run.

Arms wrapped about him. Hands pulled him closer until his head rested on a bony shoulder. Lips pressed themselves against his forehead. Jack's breath moved over his face, warm and minty fresh. He brushed his teeth already? What time was it any how?

"What time?" Daniel thought he muttered but he couldn't be certain of what sounds actually made it past his lips. It was a good thing Jack understood Daniel-mutter-speak.

"Five-thirty."

"Gonna fish?"

"Nope."

That made Daniel's brain move into a slightly higher gear and his eyes opened. He looked blearily up at Jack in the charcoal gray shadows of early morning.

"Huh…" It was more a statement than a question from Daniel, and he didn't expect much of an answer.

"Huh," Jack said as a reply.

Daniel nuzzled in closer, taking in the warm, familiar smell of Jack. His eyes closed, and a smile played on his lips as he felt Jack's hands smoothing slowly down his back, in such a firm caress that was almost like a massage. It felt wonderful. Jack touching him always felt wonderful. He loved Jack's touch; he needed them. Of course, he never told Jack this, and Daniel had to wonder why.

A hand on his shoulder, playing in his hair, pushing up his glasses, all these were touches he had learned to adore from Jack. Jack was just a very tactile individual and Daniel had more than come to expect these touches. He had learned to crave them. It gave him back a sense of grounding and normalcy that made him feel a bit more secure in a topsy-turvy, deadly serious galaxy.

And now, when the touches were so much more and meant so much more, did Daniel realize some of the reasons why he needed them.

"Hey," Jack said softly.

"Mmm." Daniel nuzzled a kiss against Jack's throat, just above the Adam's apple.

"You awake?"

Daniel moved his head back so that he could give Jack the obvious scathing look in response to that question. A kiss landed on his nose. Daniel's nose twitched in response, and Jack smiled at him. Their faces were too close, making the smile look creepy yet endearing.

"What?" Daniel groused.

"Such a bitch without his morning caffeine," Jack said with a quiet chuckle that rumbled through his chest. Daniel felt the laughter radiating out against his hands which were against Jack's pects.

"It's five-fucking-thirty in the morning, Jack."

Another quick kiss made it to his lips.

"Fucking morning bastard."

"Such a potty mouth these days… Carter too. It's gotta be that Mitchell kid's influence. Next I'll catch Teal'c using a few choice expletives that could peel paint." Jack's lips kissed Daniel's softly again.

"Quit it." Daniel's protest was admittedly half hearted as he angled his head to accept more kisses.

"Uh-hm," Jack replied as if he intended to comply but instead kissed Daniel again, his lips moving gently over Daniel's, taking in Daniel's lower lip to suck and nibble. Daniel opened his lips to Jack's; then it was all serious making-out and no talking. It was slow and gentle and early-morning lazy. Daniel relaxed back into Jack's arms and let his kisses guide him.

Daniel was rolled to his back, Jack half draped over him. Daniel sighed in delight as Jack's kisses continued down his jaw line to just behind his ear. A small lick there made Daniel shiver. He smiled. He really didn't need to be completely awake for this. It was very nice in the sleepy quiet morning state he was in.

He smiled slightly as he felt Jack slowly thumb a nipple to hardness. Daniel reflexively spread his legs. Jack kissed him with absolute authority and Daniel found himself happily sucking on a minty fresh tongue. Jack's hand slipped lower, smoothing slowly over his abdomen; one finger dipping in to tickle his navel along the way.

"Mm!" was all Daniel could get out in a protest as his mouth was thoroughly occupied.

The hand slipped lower, caressing the scar from Daniel's appendectomy, tickling the raised skin, causing strange, deeply electrical tingles to spark off just behind his balls. Jack released the kiss to smile as Daniel's body arched into his touch, and Daniel sucked in a deep, shivering breath.

"You like that," Jack whispered as his lips brushed lightly over Daniel's cheek.

"Just as much as you like doing it, and then telling me how much I like it," Daniel replied.

"Smart ass."

"Shut up and keep touching."

Jack chuckled and Daniel settled back with a slow, contented smile as Jack's hands smoothed lower. Jack's kisses continued with a relaxed joyfulness that could not be disguised.

Daniel touched Jack's face and smiled into his eyes.

"Missed you," he whispered.

"Sure you did," Jack replied with a teasingly skeptical tone, but Daniel didn't rise to the bait. Jack's hand slid slowly over Daniel's inner thighs, cupping his balls for a moment and then settled on Daniel's erection. Daniel sighed as he felt Jack's hand loosely hold him, smoothing up and down his length. Jack nuzzled in kisses against Daniel's jaw line as his stroking became a rhythmic and firm.

"Ah, Jack…." Daniel couldn't help himself. His head fell back on the bed and his body strained into Jack's skillful touch. He loved Jack's large hands. One held him steady with tenderness at the small of his back while the other engulfed his member with surety and warmth. Daniel's hips moved and he was fucking Jack's hand, trembling as Jack squeezed lightly on each down stroke. Jack was milking him.

"Oh Jack! OH!"

It was a sinful delight to lay there and let Jack's hand touch him to ecstasy. Nothing to worry about as Jack's strong sure hands fucked him to a happy senselessness. He was cared for; he was loved. All he needed was this man.

Daniel's eyes closed as the flash fire ignited in his loins spread out, running like a current of pure pleasure over his body. He convulsed as the brilliant pleasure took control of his muscles and his mind.

"JACK!"

Yes, he cried out Jack's name as his seed pumped forth, coating Jack's fingers. A silly memory disrupted the joy, causing him to giggle and grimace at the same time as he fell back to the bed, and into Jack's arms.

"What?" Jack whispered in a deep, sexy purr, and Daniel knew he was questioning his final reaction.

"Did you know," Daniel said, still out of breath, "I came in my pants when that plasma bolt hit me?"

Jack rose up and looked down on him. "I hope this isn't going to be a problem for future love making."

Daniel laughed as he watched the twinkle of amusement in Jack's eyes, but, all the same, there was a valid question in all this. Daniel touched Jack's face again.

"It's not half the lover you are."

"Thank you," Jack brow creased in a thoughtful frown. "I'd like to think I offer more perks than most high voltage plasma discharges."

"You offer quite a bit," Daniel said. "There is that whole pleasure thing. I don't think there was any pleasure at all when I was hit."

"Too bad. I guess more people would opt for the plasma, in smaller doses of course, if there was a pleasure factor."

"And there is this," Daniel continued, wrapping his arm about Jack to pull him down for a brief but sweet kiss.

"Most folks like getting kissed if they are going to be fucked," Jack replied with a still serious expression as he regarded Daniel.

"And you brushed your teeth!" Daniel smiled again.

"A courtesy. However, I bet plasma energy never has morning breath."

"That is probably very true."

"Hm…"

Daniel pulled Jack back down over him, kissing him softly. "You know what else is true?" he asked as he let his thigh slowly move up to touch the hot length waiting between Jack's legs. "Plasma energy doesn't have one of these either."

Jack smiled as Daniel kissed him a few times more.

"Got lube?" Daniel asked. He pulled on Jack so that he was at last full on top. Daniel spread his legs wider and lifted them. Jack's cock brush hotly against his balls and lower.

Jack's smile got wild and wicked. He reached over to the night stand with one long arm. His hand came back with the requested tube.

Now it was Jack's turn for some fun, Daniel thought. He also knew what fun he was in store for too, and, if he played his cards right, he could do this with minimal work on his part. Jack was awake and wired with desire. Jack was focused, a man on a mission to sink his cock to the root inside Daniel. All Daniel had to do was be compliant. Oh, yes, he could so do that.

Jack rolled off him for a moment and Daniel watched as he slicked up his fingers with a liberal amount of lube. In response, Daniel rolled to his side, lifting his knee to his chest and presenting himself, wide open, to Jack.

"Danny." Kisses landed on his shoulder as the wet, and a slightly chilly with lube fingers touched his opening gently. One finger slid in carefully.

"Mmm…" Daniel hummed appreciatively as Jack's long, lone digit began to stoke inside of him. Oh, yes. It was very nice, so pleasant because Jack was so tender and so needy too. Daniel felt Jack's breath across his shoulders and at the nape of his neck, stirring the short hairs there.

Daniel relaxed as Jack opened him. He shivered as Jack's fingers lightly brushed across the spot inside him that was his prostrate. His cock woke up with the touch and the loving attention of Jack's caresses across his back, sides and thighs. Kisses and tender bites touched Daniel's neck and jaw.

"Fuck, I want you," Jack murmured against his skin. In response, Daniel pushed back against his hand and gave a small swivel of hips, conveying his readiness.

"Yes," Jack whispered with a hint of incredulous joy in his tone.

"Yes," Daniel breathed out, echoing Jack's wonder and excitement.

Daniel let himself relax and become boneless as he felt Jack's heavy cock at his entrance. He shivered in anticipation. Slowly, powerfully, Jack's erection breached to the core of him. Yes, so very good. Jack moved inside him, touching deep.

The first time they had done this, Daniel had been so afraid, but he had trusted Jack with all his heart. Jack had known what to do. Jack had shown him so many incredible things about his own body that he had never known or guessed. Daniel had known and understood gay sex in only an abstract way, in what he'd read and extrapolated from ancient text and histories. Jack had brought it from the abstract to the real in exciting living color. He had taught Daniel what it meant to crave, to yearn and to want. He had taught him what it meant to feel the fire of soul-deep lust and to give in to the long ignored hidden passions of his mind and body. Daniel had turned away long ago from a base need in his heart in fear from what he saw in the larger part society as a taboo, realizing that he was already somewhat of a social pariah. Suppressed but never eradicated, the need had lain in wait for him at the edge of his control. Jack had shown him that he could still belong and give in to that astoundingly brilliant passion that waited at the edge of his intellect.

It was so real and so beautiful. Jack made it that way, and it was all for him. Jack was careful and gentle and yet he also was thorough and confident. His hands touched with reverence and the pure fire of desire. Jack's body became the instrument of Daniel's pleasure and delight.

Jack went slow, letting the fire build gradually, letting Daniel live on the ebb and flow of their rolling passion, moving like the inexorable surf. Pleasure, low and sweet, was building to a crescendo, so warm and so real, making Daniel believe in magic and in love. Daniel leaned back into Jack's arms, relishing the feeling of flesh on flesh. Jack's sweat tingled against his skin, and the rough-soft texture of Jack's chest hairs against his back was part of whole exquisite experience.

Jack rocked faster; went deeper. His lips moved across Daniel's shoulder and he nipped sharply at the place where his clavicle met scapula.

"Danny."

That low growl pressed against his shoulder told Daniel that Jack was getting close. But that was fine. Yes, that was beautiful. Daniel was hard again, riding the tidal wave of pleasure that Jack was creating inside him. Jack's hand came up to his chest to tweak and play with his nipples as Daniel maneuvered an arm down beneath his raised leg to take himself in hand.

"Yes!" Daniel breathed back to Jack, looking over his shoulder in the softly growing glory of golden dawn sunlight.

"Yes," Jack said back in a breathless, husky voice. It was coming, the crashing wave.

Yes!

Yes!

Daniel's body froze only for that infinitesimal split second that some called "the little death." A blinding climax claimed him, shutting out all rational thought, bring only the animal instinct to grasp, to hold, to take, to claim and to never let go.

Jack. His Jack.

Jack was coming, trembling against him. A very low moan escaped him at the end and then a soft, satisfied sigh. Jack was relaxed against his back, warm and heavy. Daniel smiled to himself as he imagined the cheetah-like grace of Jack sprawled against his back. They lay still for a few moments more, until Jack's member softened and slipped from Daniel's body. The gray of early dawn had turned to a golden radiance that brought color blossoming back to the room.

Wiping his hand on the bed sheets, Daniel reached back to give Jack a poke.

"Hm!" A disgruntled grunt from the now lazing major general.

"Off," Daniel said with soft affection. "I gotta pee."

"Stupid meds," Jack mumbled. Daniel chuckled in response. The blood pressure meds were indeed diuretics.

When Daniel returned to the bed, he was confronted with a magnificent mess of Jack O'Neill sprawled out and comfortable, naked and beautiful.

"Evil debaucher."

"You want some coffee?" Jack asked without opening his eyes.

"Two star tempter."

"I need to write that one down for the guys back in DC."

Daniel crawled over Jack to settle back at his side. He turned to his side, away from Jack and was pleased to feel Jack spoon up against him once more.

"Did you take your morning meds?"

"Why are we here, Jack?" Daniel asked calmly.

"Fishing."

Daniel turned in Jack's embrace to look at him, squinting into his sleepy yet amused expression. "I'd really like to believe that. There is something else, isn't there?"

Jack sighed as his smile slowly faded. "I thought it would be better if it came from me… and out here, where you would have time to digest it."

"What, Jack?" Daniel whispered. His gut clinched, preparing for bad news. It had to be bad news or else Jack would not have made such an effort to relax him first.

"The decision came down all the way from the president," Jack said softly. "But the senate sub committee that oversees the department of home world security agreed. They are pulling your off-world status, Daniel. They're grounding you."

And Jack had been right to try to relax him before hitting him with such news. It was inconceivable. Grounding Him? Dr. Daniel Jackson of the Star Gate Cartouche? Did his heart just stop? Did he forget to breathe? Was there a small battalion of hamsters running amuck in his gut?

But Jack's face was so sad and sympathetic. His eyes were so soft and sincere, looking at him with only love and empathy. Daniel wondered what he must look like right at that moment. Yes, his mouth was hanging open. He closed it and felt the deep frown push his forehead so tight that he could literally feel every fold and wrinkle of his brow.

"I'm about to ask why," Daniel stated but answered himself quickly as he saw Jack take a breath to respond. "You're going to tell me that it has something to do about the fact that I manage to get mortally wounded a lot."

"If you had been in the military, they would have handed you a Sliver Star, a Distinguished Service Medal, and an honorable discharge by now," Jack said.

"But I'm not in the military," Daniel argued. "It doesn't matter how many times I've been wounded in action…"

"Yes it does!" Jack said forcefully, shaking Daniel from his peevish need to argue this. "You're life matters as much as any soldier's. You're needed alive, here on earth. Daniel… Danny, the doc said some of this shit ain't going to go away." Jack's eyes looked thunderous, but it wasn't anger that lit them. It was something deeper that brought instinctual fear rising up in Daniel's guts to spike acidly in his throat.

Daniel lay stunned, listening as Jack gave him the worst of the news.

"They think that the shock may have triggered brain lesions. They think you may have progressive multiple sclerosis. When you come back from this trip, they are going to put you through more CT scans to be certain. They didn't want to tell you yet, because they weren't sure without further tests, and you weren't symptomatic."

The bottom dropped out and the battalion of hamsters fell to their deaths.

"They could be wrong," Jack said, his eyes searching Daniel's face desperately for something. What, Daniel didn't know. "The test can show that you're okay; that what they thought was a lesion was just a smudge of someone's mocha latte on the scan screen."

"I doubt that."

Why did it suddenly all make perfect sense now? All that meaning of life shit just fell into place. After a life time of confusion, it was all perfectly clear. Daniel Jackson was just a human. He looked at Jack again.

Jack O'Neill was a human too. Sure, he had the ancient gene, which meant that somewhere back in his linage he had an ancient ancestor, but the long and short of it was that he was just a human too. Humans don't live forever.

He leaned his head against Jack's and said words he had not said since Sha're was alive.

"I love you, Jack."

Jack's hands cradled his face, warm and tender and then he was being kissed. He was being loved back in full measure.

"Danny," Jack breathed out against his lips.

"You weren't going to tell me the rest of it, were you?'

Jack shrugged. "Personally, I thought it was unfair of them to not tell you, but they didn't want to worry you if it turned out to be nothing."

Daniel thought this over. He wasn't showing any of the overt symptoms of MS… except the blurred vision, but that was normal for him. But somehow he knew, just knew in his heart that he did have MS and perhaps the government was correct to ground him, even if he didn't have MS. He hated it. He despised it from the very pit of his soul. He wanted to fight it, argue against it, rage against it, but he recognized it as valid. He was human.

He had to consider to himself, what did he really want? What was he trying to prove? Was this all there was to his life? There had been a time when he hadn't cared what happened to himself. That was why he chose to stay on Abydos. It had seemed a better option than home. Now there was nothing out there for him, in reality. It was all empty and useless now. The government would never fund his research for the research's sake. The big enemies of their galaxy were neutralized for the greater part. And there were so many mysteries to unravel here on earth alone to fill several human lifetimes.

What did he want?

"Hey, want some coffee?" Jack whispered.

Daniel blinked. "Yeah… uh… yeah, I could use some."

Jack released him with a final, quick kiss and scooted off the bed.

~*~  
Morning.

Still in shock, Daniel was more awake than he ever remembered being in his beleaguered life as a civilian consultant to the Air Force, and he wasn't even at work. He sat at the kitchen table of the cabin with a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. Jack moved about the kitchen. The snap and sizzle sounds from the frying pan were accompanied by the heartening smell of bacon: comfort food.

Daniel was silent; perhaps too silent for one so awake. He wondered what he must look like to the casual observer. Then he remembered the old post war saying "the thousand-yard stare." He was shell-shocked. It was over. It was all over and there was little he could do about it.

He guessed that his grounding probably didn't include a total removal from the program. There was still valuable research he could do. Sure, he would hate being unable to do the field work. Jack had hated it too when his time had come to be grounded. Nevertheless, it wasn't the end of his life. This was a beginning. Whether he would come to like this beginning remained to be seen.

"I was thinking about going swimming today," Jack said congenially as he sat a pair of buttered toast before Daniel.

"I didn't bring any trunks," Daniel replied flatly.

"Don't need any." Jack smiled that special 'I'm Jack, and I'm up to no good' smile.

Daniel stared up at him. "What?"

~*~

Daniel couldn't remember the last time he had ever skinny dipped. Maybe it had been… No, not then. Baths didn't count… did they?

Jack swam like an otter at play, skimming past him in the water, sleek and graceful as ever. He could hold his breath for an ungodly long time. And, after a while, Daniel found that he was no longer overly occupied with his lost position or his remembered mortality. Daniel was laughing. He was laughing at Jack, and Jack was playing, and the sun was bright, and the day was nice, and the air was warm. And they were happy.

They climbed out of the water panting and laughing after a rather sloppy and comical race from the middle of the lake that involved much pulling and dunking, and could have potentially involved anvils from Acme Co. if it had been choreographed by the creators of the Loony Toons.

Jack flopped down on the thick grass just beyond the dock, still chuckling, damp and gloriously naked in the bright noon sun. Daniel had laughed until he couldn't laugh any more. He was too busy soaking in the exquisite scenery: beautiful, wet, naked man flat on his back with the sun on his face. Certainly, painters lived to capture such visions on canvas.

Daniel sat down next to him. "I love you," he whispered again.

Jack squinted up at him with a brilliant smile. "Said that twice now, Danny boy."

"Mean it too," Daniel replied.

Jack propped himself up on one elbow and turned to Daniel. He wasn't laughing any more. "I wanted to tell you too that I put in the paper work to retire. I wanted to wait until you recovered a bit from the other news."

Daniel smiled. "Thank you for waiting. I don't think I could have processed so much, especially so early in the morning."

"I did it because of you, but not because of this other stuff… I mean, I put in for it before all this crap happened."

Daniel lounged back next to Jack, touching Jack's face briefly and lightly to smooth a droplet of water from his brow. "Really?"

"Yeah," Jack said, a half-smile lighting his face and making his eyes twinkle. "Thought I'd just sit back and be Dr. Jackson's favorite groupie for the rest of my life. Give you something warm to come home to."

Daniel laughed. "I really really really cannot see that."

"What? You saying I can't groupie?"

"No… Yes. Yes, Jack that is what I'm saying. You are no one's groupie."

"I'm yours," Jack said with such a simply wistful voice that Daniel couldn't resist. He leaned forward to kiss him.

But Jack didn't give up. "You have groupies, and I'm one. I'm the prez of the fan club. I've got the autographed undies to prove it."

"You've been stealing out of my underwear drawer again?"

"I still don't know how you manage to fit your whole name on the care tag using a sharpie."

"Jack!"

Jack laughed and Daniel laughed as he watched Jack laugh. He let himself go. He let himself really feel happy. He was happy. This was good. He was free. He was free like he was when he first decided to stay with Sha're.

He smiled at Jack. He was home. This was home, in Jack's gaze, in Jack's presence.

"I do love you," Daniel whispered on the end of a chuckle.

"Yeah, I know."

Then Daniel saw it all. It came as a vision of him and Jack some years later. Daniel was wheeling his chair through the shopping center parking lot, complaining blandly and without heat about the price of produce while Jack agreed, carrying the bulk of the groceries in reusable bags to the car. Jack walked with a slight shuffling limp. Daniel's vision was more blurred and his glasses were thicker. It was all about life. It was what happened after the adventures ended, because all adventures had ends.

Adventures concluded either good or bad. If they concluded badly, then the heroes were dead and gone, lost to all but myth and legend. If adventures concluded well, then those were the stories that ended with the words, "and they lived happily ever after." So what was "happily ever after" but life, normal and uneventful?

"Hey." Jack touched his face and Daniel looked into his eyes. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Daniel smiled at Jack. "It's just life, you know."

"Hm?"

Daniel returned the touch, running a thumb over Jack's cheekbone. "It's life. It's humanity. It's what we are."

"Okay…"

Daniel chuckled to himself. He knew he had confused Jack, but in time he would understand. Humanity and life wasn't always this fast and scary joy ride. Life and death wasn't always about living fast and dying faster. Real life, real humanity was about living and breathing and dealing and living some more. Some times it was about dealing with illnesses that didn't kill in hours or days but over years, stripping the quality of life first before, mercifully letting life ebb away. This was being human. They were human.

They both lay back in the grass, looking into each others eyes for a while longer.

"Hungry?" Jack asked.

"I could eat," Daniel answered.

Jack rose up from the grass, grousing only slightly when his knees cracked. He reached for Daniel giving him a hand up. He pulled him to a stand before him, reaching his arm about Daniel, he held him to himself lightly.

"I love you too," Jack said, very very softly.

Daniel smiled brightly. He had already known that. Why else would Jack fuss over him, make him coffee in the morning, make him take his medicine on time, set his books out for him, make his favorite meals, brush his teeth in the morning before seducing him, and make sex so very good. But it was nice to hear the words. Jack loved him, and they were going to live happily ever after.

*Three years and two months later*

Teal'c and Vala were a given for Thanksgiving. As for Carter, it was iffy. It depended if she had something big and ugly going on. Since she took over the SGC, she hadn't had the time to get to the stuff she had enjoyed, the research she had loved for years. She often commiserated with Jack now, knowing what he had suffered as an administrator. Taken out of the action, watching as friends and former teammates continue on the adventure was not easy or fun. Mitchell was another toss-up. He had so many other invites and social commitments that he had to consider, he often had to choose only one holiday to spend with his old team and surrogate family. It would definitely be four, but could eventually be six for dinner that evening.

Daniel had very much wanted to try his hand at Thanksgiving dinner, but the recent lesion attack that had left his sight severely impaired had made it impossible. Daniel was just glad it wasn't a partial paralysis like the last attack.

His very first MS attack had been double vision, and they had been ready for it, starting him on the radical chemotherapy. His MS was slightly more progressive due to the aggravating factors of his body's hard abuse and prolonged exposure to intense gamma radiation from wormhole travel. Remission was often counted in months and not years. Daniel was just thankful that the damage wasn't as permanent as it would eventually become.

Perhaps it was for the best that he didn't do this dinner, Daniel thought as he smelled the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. Jack was incredibly good at Thanksgiving dinner. He made this potato dish with olives, cheese and bacon that made Daniel's toes curl in delight.

A kiss landed on his head and he looked up, only slightly surprised, He could hear Jack's foot falls as he moved about the house. He knew Jack had been close. He had not expected the kiss.

"Hey!" Daniel gave a half-hearted complaint.

"T will be here soon. You gonna change?" Jack asked.

"Huh." Daniel's hand went reflexively to his shirt and sweater combo. "Don't I match?"

"Nope. Only in a Flippo the Clown kinda way," Jack replied. "Vala's gonna have a field day…" Jack was standing to his left. Daniel reached out to him. A hand caught his own and pulled him up from the chair.

"Shit!"

"Come on," Jack said and the hand Daniel held began to pull him forward, guiding him back to their bedroom. "I'll help you change."

…Because he loves me, Daniel thought. Jack never truly had to say it. He expressed it to Daniel every day in a very human way. And they did live happily ever after.

End

**Author's Note:**

> The views expressed in this story about Rodney McKay's attractiveness are solely the views of Jack O'Neill and do not reflect the views and opinions of the author or her beta.


End file.
